Improvement in elevated railroads



ITED

1;? TATE Per 1i IMPROVEMENT IN ELEVATED RAILROADS.

' Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 73,003., dated January 7, 1868.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, CHARLES THOMPSON HARVEY, of Tarrytown, in the county of Westchester, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Elevated Railroads; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which drawings- Figure 1, Sheet 1, shows an elevation ofa supporting-column and the pier or mass of masonry on which it rests, together with a cross-section of the track and of the operating and return cable-guide. Fig. 2 is a cross'section of the column in the plane of the line 00.90, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an inverted view of baseplate 45. Fig. 4 is a cross-section in the line y, Fig. 5, Sheet 2, is a perspective View of aportion of a supporting-column enlarged, as compared with its size in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a cross-section in the plane of the liney y, Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the segments of the column.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

The letter a designates one of the columns which supports the elevated railroad. It is made of wrought or malleable iron, in segmental parts, rolled to the form required. The lower part of the column is firmly secured below the pavement or street, whose surface is indicated by the red line 2, Fig. 1 at which point I place around the column a false base, it, for the protection of the column, thereby also giving a symmetrical finish to the same.

I make the false base of cast-iron or wood,

or other material, in semi-annular segments,

one of them having ears, which go into sockets made in the other, as is shown in Fig. 4, the ears being secured by pins 1 1.

The false base rests on the ground, and its inner circumference is made to fit the exterior of the column. The column itself is, in this mentary arc shaped pieces or brackets V, whose bases rest on the exterior flanges 2 of the column, which flanges are cut away to make square shoulders for the piecesVto rest on. I also stiffen said branching arms by putting similar brackets on their inner or convex sides, and the flaring lower ends of the columns are stiffened or strengthened in the same manner by supplementary pieces or brackets applied to both the inner and outer surfaces, but I have not thought it necessary to show their application in this example, because the intelligent mechanic, from the foregoing explanation, will be able to apply said brackets without further description.

The pieces V are secured to the arms of the columns in any suitable manner. The inter- .spaces between the said arms of the columns are partly filled up by triangular pieces a, which serve to stiffen and strengthen the arms.

The bottom of column a rests directly upon the cast-iron base-plate n, which has rising from its upper surface a series of angularshaped ears, m, that are cast with the plate and are so formed as to fit in the triangular spaces that occur between adjacent flanges 2 of the segments at the foot of the column, said ears m being made with flanges that come within the flaring flanges 2, to which they are bolted. firmly, thereby uniting the column to the base-plate.

In setting up the column its segmental sections are put on the plate it within the ears m, one by one, because of the flaring shape of the ends of the segments.

The base-plate nis oval in form, its greatest diameter being transverse to the line of the railroad, so as to give a greater power of resistance to lateral displacement or oscillations of the railroad. The said base-plate n rests upon a plate, k, of like-form, to which it is securel y bolted, the adjusting wed ge-plates heretofore secured to me by Letters Patent for adjusting the column a being first interposed between.

Below plate It is the cap or covering plate t', which rests upon the top ofthe under-ground pier 0, having lips on its edges which lap on the sides of the pier, said plates 70 andt' being connected by a short cylinder, j, through which the cable runs in ascending to or descending from the track. This coveringplate icovers and protects the return cable-guide e, and both the plates 70 and t have openings through them in continuation of the hollow space of their connecting cylinder j, through which openings the cable passes.

The opening through plate z is provided with antifriction rollers Z I, over which the cable passes on entering or leaving the return cable-guide.

The pier 0 is a truncated pyramid in form, and is built upona broad cast-iron plate, W, which is connected to the covering-plate i by bolts, which are shown in Fig. lin dotted outline. By this construction I not only connect the plates 71 and but also clamp and confine the pier or mass of masonry between them, so that the foundation of the column is compact, and forms a united solid structure. The plate is made, if desired, of alayer of wood, or stone may be substituted therefor.

The cap or plated and the piero are arranged diagonally with theline of the railroad, whereby the return cable-guide is protected and supported a greater distance than it would be if it passed through the pier and under plate 1', at right angles to their sides.

The cable-guide c is made with a broad foundation-plate of wood, 4, which rests 011 the floor or frame of the track, over which plate 4 is laid a plate of iron, f, of equal width. 011 this iron plate fare beams of wood 5, placed vertically on their edges, at a sufficient distance apart to allow the cable-heads or ferrules to move easily between them, rollin g on the iron plate f. On the top of each vertical beam, 5, I secure a right-angled metallic bar, g, whose vertical part or face extends over the interior of the cable-guide far enough to come above the wheels of the cable-head, but not so far as to reach the face of the opposite bar, a continuous space being left between them, in which the spur of the cablehead or ferrule moves, and through which it extends upward so as to operate on and move a car on the track by striking against a coupling-arm or other device projected from the car. By combining the iron and wooden beams and bars together in this manner, I form a cable-guide which resists the action of frost to a great extent, and also cheapens the guide, those parts which receive friction from the cable and its heads or ferrules being made of metal and the other parts of wood, which is less expensive than metal.

The return cable-guide e is like the cable guide 0, save that it is inverted and has the addition of an inverted cap, 6, which closes the continuous open space between the vertical faces of the bars, and provides a continuous channel in which the spur of thecablehead or ferrule is guided and moves without being liable to turn or stick fast therein, the wheels of the head or ferrule running on the horizontal surfaces of the metallic an gle-bars.

The track is laid with compound rails madeas follows: 0 c are steel or iron I-shaped rails or beams, two of which are placed side by side, so that their bases come close to or near each other. I prefer to arrange them so that in forming a continuous track they will break joints with each other. In the space between them Iplace strips or beams of wood, d, in a continuous line, the top of said beams being flat or square, to receive the bottom of the rail 1), and their sides being partly vertical and partly bevel, so as to fit both the vertical and the beveled sides of the metallic rails or beams between which the wood is placed. The metallic rails or beams and the wooden filling inclosed between them are strongly bolted or secured together.

The inner edges of the tops of the I-shaped rails or beams do not come together, but they are separated a distance equal to the thickness of the body of the upper rail, b, whose base rests on the wooden filling cl, said base being 'beveled on its sides to. fit the beveled sides of the rails or beams c 0, by which arrangement and construction the top rail, 1), is firmly and securely held down in its place, and is provided with a comparatively noiseless though firm and solid bed or support.

The upper rail is put in its place before the rails or beams c and wooden filling are fastened together, and the several parts are made of such relative size and are so formed as to fit each other snugly when secured together. It will be observed that by this method of construction the rails or beams c c and the wooden filling form a continuous chairconterminous only with thetrack itself, the rails on which the cars move being held at all points alike, whereby great security is obtained, and the danger of displacement or of breaking the rail is obviated.

The wooden filling d forms a cushion or bed for the rail and resists the destructive action of frost, and consequently aids to preserve the metallic parts combined with it.

The outside rail or beam 0 of each rail is made square at the point 8 of each such outside rail, to give a firm bearing to the vertical lip 7 of the frame-work 9, and to thicken and strengthen the rails or beams 0 at those points.

The same provision can be made for the inner rails or beams c, and a lip, 7, be made to embrace them also. I But this thickening of the rails or beams c, where the lips or chairs 7 or other clamping devices come, is not indispensable, and the same can be omitted, if desired.

The frame 9 rests on the tops of the branching arms of the column and connects: them to each other, and the compound rail and the cable-guide rest upon it,being held or attached thereto by means of thevertical lips 7, or any equivalent devices;

. The compound rail above described possesses great strength and stiffness, and atfords great security against such accidents as fractures, as the giving way of a rail. It is applicable to surface railroads as well as elevated railroads. It enables the constructor to disa pense with some of the ties now usually employed in building the groundwork or substructure of railroads, and enables him also to cross ch asms and streams at much less expense in the necessary substructure or framing.

I do not wish to confine myself to the form shown in the drawings, of the upper parts of the supporting rails or beams 0 c, it being only necessary that the tops of those rails or beams be so formed as to embrace and clamp the main rail in a secure manner.

The said compound rail can be modified in form without departing from the principle of my invention, as, for instance, by substituting a single supporting rail or beam, 0, in lieu of the double beams or rails, shown in the drawings, making it broad top and bottom, and placing the main rail 1) upon the same, interposing between them, throughout the whole line of the road, a layer of wood, or other material, of such qualities as enable it to resist the action of frost, and diminish noise and impart additional strength to the structure, bolting the said supporting and supported rails and the interposed wood or other cushion together in a secure manner.

The two lines of compound rails, which compose the track, are connected to each other by rods that go across from one to the other, at proper intervals, and tie them together, so as to prevent both expansion and contraction; or the lines of rails are tied to each other by ties placed across the track beneath the supporting-rails, the said compound rails being clamped and kept down to their places on the ground, or substructure, or on the frame of an elevated railroad by chairs, or equivalent clamping devices.

The columns a are made in longitudinal segment 9, four of which, in this example, go to make a complete cylindrical column. Each segment has a longitudinal rib, g, on its exterior, in the center of its width. The edges of the segments are square in this example, and the segments are united to each other by longitudinal bars 1, with double fiange S S, along one edge, which covers the joint between adjacent segments, and is firmly bolted to the segments, in the manner shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The bottoms of the flanges are curved transversely, so as to be concentric with the exterior of the segments and make a tight joint. The segments p and the bars i, which unite them to each other, are rolled into the required shape, in the usual manner of rolling wrought and malleable iron. The completed columns are filled with wooden posts, which come up to the intermediate frame-work 9 and help to support the same, those columns through which the cable passes up or down being lined with wood, or only partially filled therewith. The wooden filling adds stiffness to the columns, and by not becoming brittle from the effects of frost, addssecurity to the structure. I

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

,1. The arrangement and combination, with the columns a, of a false base, t, made in sections, and secured around thecolumu at the surface of the ground, substantially as de scribed.

2. In a supporting-column, the supplementary arc-shaped pieces V, in combination with the branching arms of the column a, with 01' without the triangular filling-pieces a, substantially as described.

3. The base-plate n, in combination with the ears m, arranged to fit the, triangular interspaces of the column as ribs or flanges 2, substantially as described.

4. The arrangement and combination, in one piece, of the plate, It, the cap-plate t', and the connecting cylinder j, substantially as described.

5. The construction of the cap-plate t with its friction-rollers l, substantially as described.

6. The arrangement and combination, in the cable-guide a, of the wooden foundation 4 and wooden side beams 5 with the metallic bottom plate f and top right-angled bars g 9, substantially as shown.

7. The return cable-guide e, made substantially as described, by inverting the cableguide 0, and combining therewith the inverted cap I), substantially as described.

8. The arrangement and combination of the 1 upper rail 1), the I-shaped rails or beams c c, and the wooden filling d, substantially as above described.

9. Arrangement of the main rail 11 upon the top of an under rail or beam with a layer or cushion of wood interposed between them, substantially as described.

10. The column a, composed of ribbed seg ments 1?, in combination with the flanged bars r, which serve to unite the segments together, substantially as described.

This specification signed by me this 20th day ofJune, 1867.

CHARLES T. HARVEY.

Witnesses:

GUSTAV BERG, HERMANN Guosz. 

